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Fun Fine Motor Products
My favorite thing about fine motor activities is how simple they are to set up. Just a few easy materials can make for a great learning experience. Some of the best fine motor materials are things that you already have around the house – clothespins, tongs, spoons, shoelaces, and rubber bands. All of these can be used to encourage a variety of fine motor skills, but it’s still fun to add specialized products every once and a while. Here are some fun fine motor products that your kiddos would love (all links are affiliates). Hand tongs! BBQ Grill game Nuts and Bolts building set Trail mix stringing set Pop Beads…
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Weaving activity
Did you have one of these as a kid?! I did and I absolutely loved it! I introduced it to my preschoolers a while back and they were surprisingly good at weaving the loops back and forth. We’ve done weaving before, in fact for a while we had a large loom like this one from Melissa and Doug. After a while, the big loom wasn’t enough of a challenge any more. So when I spotted the smaller ones I thought I’d give it a shot. I honestly thought it would be a disaster, so I purposely picked a day when I didn’t have very many students so that I would be…
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DIY Geoboards
Geoboards are one of those amazingly simple things that can keep children occupied for an extraordinary amount of time. They inspire exploration of geometric shapes, as well as persistence and fine motor practice. Geoboards are also easy to make yourself, so with a few simple supplies you can add a couple of these to your classroom. Here are a few DIY geoboards that I rounded up, choose whichever works best for your budget and your students! A board and nails (and a tutorial) from Little Bins for Little Hands Cork board and push pins – from An Every Day Story A CD case and clear screw fasteners – from Left…
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Stringing practice
Stringing takes some serious fine motor skills, not to mention coordination. Have you ever stopped to watch a child who is just learning how to string struggle to get both of their hands to do different functions at the same time – it’s one of those things that we take for granted as adults, but it is really really hard to learn, and it’s not easy to explain the process to a child because we don’t have to think about doing it ourselves. Stringing is a simple activity that is easy to prep, but it helps to change up the materials so that it always seems new and interesting. Here…
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Friday Freebie – Fine Motor Resource
Happy Friday! I have the perfect freebie to go along with all of the fine motor information that I’ve shared this week! This AMAZING Fine Motor Parent Resource pack is from Ashley Reed. It is a set of fine motor activities that parents can easily do at home with their children using materials that they probably already have. What a great way to share learning experiences with families! If you’re looking for other fine motor activities, check out the rest of this week’s posts;Stringing PracticeDIY GeoboardsWeaving ActivityFine Motor Products
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Awesome Markers
I have this problem… I LOVE art supplies. Markers are my weakness, mostly because I refuse to use a dried out marker, oh, and because I love markers that have a perfectly new tip. I’m the teacher who hoards a box of markers so that they are always in new condition when I need to use them. So it should come as no surprise that I love shopping for markers – any kind of markers. Here are some fun products that would be great for the classroom! All links are affiliates. Super Tips – These are the best markers! They have a fine tip, but you can also draw with the broad…
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Friday Freebie – Creative doodling
Happy Friday!!!! I’ve been sharing great ideas for art projects that use markers all week, and I have one for you today that you might even try this weekend. This graph paper drawing idea is a great way to encourage creativity. Children can use their imagination and express what the graph paper looks like to them. The best part is that Kate from Picklebums shares where she got her free graph paper, that comes in all different fun shapes! Enjoy your weekend and feel free to share your students doodles (or your own!).
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Marker Tie Dye
Marker tie dye is one of those activities that I can count on to keep children engaged no matter what. It’s a science experiment disguised as a magic trick and it requires very few supplies or materials. The idea is simple; children use washable marker to color on a coffee filter and then they spray their coffee filter with water from a spray bottle. When the children spray the coffee filter with water the colors from the markers bleed together, creating a tie dye look. Once the coffee filters dry they are perfect for hanging in windows where light will shine through, or for other projects. Over the years I’ve…
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Elements of art: line
We know that when children are drawing they are practicing pre-writing skills, but did you know that they are also learning about elements and principles of design? I stumbled across this amazing ABCs of Art Booklet (on Pinterest of course) a while back and it has become one of my favorite things ever. The pages provide incredible inspiration for the children as they draw. My favorite page in the booklet is the page on line. It is the perfect poster for the art area, or to leave in the middle of the table while the children work. When it comes to playing with lines, I think markers are the best!…
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Experimenting with permanent markers
Yes, you read that title right, permanent markers. Think about it – all of those other art supplies you use make a colossal mess, so why not use permanent markers too? Sure, they might get on your tables, or on the children’s hands, but if you take the same precautions that you would for paint – covering the table or using a tray, making sure the children wear smocks, etc. – then you can minimize the mess. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to talk to the children about using the markers appropriately, and expressing your expectations clearly. If you want to be prepared with a few clean up tricks up…
